business presentations

Guest Post: 3 tips for professional looking PowerPoint presentations

Sharon works with us on the admin end of our business. She is a font of efficiency and knowledge on all things relating to running your business. On top of that, she is a whizz on all the Microsoft Office products, in particular PowerPoint. Below she shares some of her tips on making your PowerPoint presentations look more professional.

I often help my coaches with their PowerPoint presentations ready for their training workshops or networking meetings/pitches. I usually help with setting up their master slide templates and checking for spelling, inconsistency etc. Below are some of my top tips to think about next time you’re setting up your own slides… 1. Be Consistent Consistency is key to helping your presentation look professional. Make sure the same fonts are used throughout – if you use one font for the header and a different one for the main body text then make sure this is the same on every slide. One quick way of doing this is to set up your Master Slide ...

Top tips to be more engaging in your business presentations

When you stand up and speak in a presentation, listeners will form an opinion of you, your product or service and your organisation, based on how you are coming across. Come across as dull and boring – then that is the impression you leave them with of your organisation. On the other hand, come across as engaging and they will be more likely to seek you out. Below are our top 10 tips, which recently appeared in the Sunday Business Post, that can help you to be a more engaging presenter in your next business presentation. 1. What about “them”? The most important element in any presentation is “them”, your audience. Before you put pen to paper or finger to keyboard you need to find out all you can about them and what they want to get from your presentation. The better you understand them, their attitude and their world, the better chance you have of engaging with them. 2. Begin with the end in mind. What is the purpose of the presentation? This should be cryst...

PowerPoint Presentations: Top 3 things that annoy audiences most

According to a survey conducted in 2015 by Dave Paradi of Think Outside The Slide, the top 3 things that annoy audiences most about PowerPoint presentations are: 1. Speaker reads the slides 2. Full sentences instead of bullet points 3. Text too small If you look at these 3 reasons they all point to the same issue – lack of preparation by the speaker! If the speaker knew their topic they would show a few key words on each slide, could therefore increase font size and would not need to read from the slides. Remember that slides are not there to replace you! Don’t let your PowerPoint take centre stage – your slides are used as a visual aid to enhance your message / presentation not actually be your presentation. Garr Reynolds in his book Zen Presentations recommends using 7 words per slide, not per line, per slide! That might sound a bit extreme but it is definitely worth thinking about ….. Bonus Tip: 36.9% of people surveyed above also found that visua...

5 tips for creating a fantastic first impression

“How long does it take to create a first impression?” Two minutes? Twenty seconds? Two seconds? Some psychologists* would suggest that the length is as short as one tenth of a second. Therefore, before you have opened your mouth the audience are beginning to form an impression. So whether you are delivering a high impact business presentation, delivering a presentation at a conference or even a sales presentation, here are a few simple tips to ensure that when you are presenting, you create a fantastic first impression. 1. Dress for the occasion Bearing in mind that the first impression has already begun before you even open your mouth, what you wear really does count. Two words can address the whole issue of dress code – dress appropriately. By researching your audience you should have a good idea of what “appropriate” is for the occasion. Business casual will usually suffice for those in the IT industry, while in the legal world a full suit and tie...